Recent research has suggested all the sitting we do has even more of an impact on our health than exercise does.

Which is all the more reason to stand up.

This is often easier said than done. So how can we activate our bodies and burn kilojoules when we are chained to the chair or when long days and commutes swallow up precious time?

We can take our business calls standing up, burn calories by having a good laugh or try out toilet yoga. There are smartphone apps to reduce time spent seated and active transport is a good option, but depends on the distance of your commute.

Active workstations instead are becoming a more popular alternative.

Two new studies have found that active workstations can be effective to reduce occupational sedentary time without compromising work performance.

"Our findings suggest that using activity-permissive workstations can have a range of positive benefits, including reductions in workplace sedentary time, lower body mass index and reduced musculoskeletal discomfort," said one of the study's co-authors, Professor Leon Straker from Curtin University's Faculty of Health Sciences.

The authors of the second study agreed that "active workstations might contribute to improving people's health and physical activity levels".

Super sitting

The Wobble Stool: Adjustable height stool with a slightly rounded rubber-tread base that requires you to actively balance yourself while maintaining a straight-back posture.

Likes: The perfect balance of wobblyness and comfort, easily the best execution of the instability-chair idea that I have tested. It's wobbly enough to keep you alert but stable enough so that it does not distract you. For a stool, it is surprisingly comfortable, with padded fabric on the top and three leg cut-outs that allow you to sit naturally. Spring-loaded, with release buttons hidden on the bottom of the seat, it adjusts from 56cm to 84cm high.The four pieces can be put together tool-free in 60 seconds. It is so well-balanced that after a while you can easily sit on it at full height without your feet touching the ground. The all-black design is stylish enough for any work or home environment and can be transported easily.

Likes: It's cheap, simple and effective. Pumping these pedals as you sit at your desk becomes almost as blissfully mindless as twitching your legs. The 3.2kg device comes with a tiny computer you probably won't use that displays timing, reps, total reps and calories. It doesn't really matter if the computer works because it's too small to see, but just having the pedals is an irresistible invitation to get in some stealth calorie burning. The resistance dial is crude but effective. Fully tightened, it provided enough resistance to give me a satisfying, sweat-free pedalling motion.

Dislikes: The minicycle will slide forward on the floor as you pedal unless you place something between it and the wall. Also, you will need a rather high desk - more than 71cm - so that your knees will not hit the bottom of your drawer. And not surprisingly for a low-cost product, I noticed bolted-on parts moving as I pedalled, so don't expect it to last forever. For something more durable, try the well-regarded DeskCycle, around $199.

Likes: Simply standing for three hours a day burns around four slices of pizza a week. The standing desk is simple, stylish and effective. A relatively inexpensive way to instantly get the benefits of a stand-up desk for a minute, an hour, a day or whenever you get the urge. Simply squeezing a release bar on each side of the platform allows you to position your computer from 33cm to 59cm above the desk top. The workspace is 67cm by 40cm and has a 12kg capacity. The device is 4.8kg and includes an optional lower shelf that installs tool-free with four bolts and wing nuts in about 30 seconds. That is all the work it takes to assemble this smartly designed product, which unfolds out of the box for instant use.

Likes: Many strength movements are possible, including overhead presses, chest presses, boxing-style punches, lumbar stretches, arm curls and delt raises. It comes with three levels of cords: easy, medium and hard resistance. Once set up, it is convenient to do legitimate exercises at your desk. The bars housing the stretch cords can quickly be repositioned for different exercises.

Dislikes: Although assembly looks simple on paper, in practice it's a pain. I found that merely threading the touchy nuts and bolts together was so difficult that it turned what I thought would be a 15-minute Phillips-head screwdriver assembly job into a two-hour ordeal. The straps, designed with a great deal of adjustability to fit different chair sizes, were nonetheless hard to get to fit tightly around the chair back. I was not surprised when the owner told me that the hardware and the bars are being simplified with a simple pop-pin design common to many sporting goods products.